Media tends to treat survivors like David Hogg as if they are policy experts, rather than ordinary people who have witnessed something most of us will never understand.
On February 15, the day after 17 students and faculty were murdered at a Florida high school, Twitter published a few “moments” with collected tweets about the shooting. One was captioned, “Student survivor David Hogg speaks out on gun control after Parkland shooting.”
Hogg is a 17-year-old student journalist and a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the shooting occurred. He interviewed fellow students after the shooting, and was interviewed on CNN and MSNBC. Most of the featured tweets on the Twitter “moment” include quotes from Hogg. The final tweet, from a writer named Elisheva Avital, reads simply, “When you’re old enough, David Hogg, run for office.”
Media tends to treat survivors like Hogg as if they are policy experts, rather than ordinary people who have witnessed something most of us will never understand. Reporters often ask questions that politicize shootings and ask for a survivor’s take on legislation.
For instance, a CNN reporter asked Hogg if he had a message for Congress and the president. Hogg said action is more important than ideas. Seemingly unsatisfied with Hogg’s vague answer, the reporter pressed further. “Do you have a sense of what kind of action that would be?” she asked. Hogg replied that any action would be “a step in the right direction.” Perhaps Hogg declined to expand on his answer because he, like most high school students, did not have the knowledge required to provide specifics.
You’re an Expert on Your Feelings, Not Policy —>
Read the rest from Chandler Lasch HERE at The Federalist.
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